144/Bang Bang!

Bang Bang!
Date of Scene:	26 February 2020
Location:	New Troy
Synopsis:	Terry meets up with Lois after getting shot. Gar drops in. Terry gets a few ideas on how to proceed. Willl be be careful? Will he have a complete plan? Stay tuned for the next time someone has to save him from certain doom!
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Gar Logan, Lois Lane

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Terry O'Neil has posed:
2/26/2020
7:04 AM.

It hasn't been the best of nights for Terry. While the idea of risk-on-the-job looks fine on paper for most, it's a whole different experience when it becomes a physical, tangible reality. Staking out potential illicit deals and finding newsworthy items is an idea of adventure and fun- getting threatened with a shotgun? Not so much.

It was lucky for him that Gar happened to fly by when he did, otherwise there would have to be an ad for a new intern.

Somewhat the worse for wear, Terry walks out of the emergency room where he got patched up. The bandages make using his left arm rather impossible... but fortunately, he still has his right arm. And he's pretty sure he can drive with just one arm.

As he stands outside in the parking lot where Gar parked the car, he stares at it. It's an ok car... about ten years old. Used. Red. Good engine...

"Shhiii-"

He sighs and looks up at the grey, listless sky, the sun shining through a cover of wintery clouds.

"Gar took my keys..."

Two blocks down from there, there is a little diner that specializes in cozy food, which is just what he needs at this point, anyways. After sitting himself down, ordering, and maneuvering his phone with only one hand, he manages to shoot two texts-

One, to Gar, letting him know that the green Titan took his keys, so he can't get home....

Two, to Lois, letting her know that he got shot last night and would probably have to miss a day or two of forced rest. Noticingn that he wasn't too far from the Planet, he adds his current location, just in case she needs to catch up with him on anything he sent last night.

Then he leans back and sighs, feeling the throbbing, aching pain from the wound as the pain medication has started to wear off. He is supposed to take some more, and he has the prescription... but he's also not allowed to drive while on it. It's going to be a painful drive back.

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan made sure things were all right at the hospital, but there were only two real choices: stick around and wait, or go back home. Laws being what they are, people who just knew each other were very limited to what they could do when someone is taken into the ER for anything.

So, the Titan (because once a Titan, always a Titan, no matter the team's current status) went back to the Tower and vegged out in front of the TV for a few hours, losing himself to some gaming. The Tower was cold, dark, spooky...well, maybe the spooky part depending on whether or not he saw Raven, but it was still lit up well and the temperature was just fine.

It was when his phone started chirping at him, literally because that was the tone he set for texts, that Gar awoke to find himself having drooled all over the front of the shirt he'd changed into, the game console having shut off automatically some time before. "Maaaan, it's too early to be getting a text. Can't a guy pull an all-nighter and sleep in peace?"

The message gets him to snap out of his slumber pretty quickly. Terry. Car. Keys. "Crap! I forgot!" He'd driven like a madman to the hospital while telling Terry to hold on, as if a flesh wound might have been fatal, and in the aftermath of getting him checked in and all that, Gar simply flew back home with the keys.

He was in costume, so let's not think too hard about where the keys went. Into a pouch or something.

Fingers fly as he texts back, <<Sorry, dude! Where you at? I'll come right over! Glad to hear you didn't die!>> Back in his casual attire, after a shirt change, he takes to the air.

Lois Lane has posed:
Thankfully, Lois happened to be at work already. She always seemed to be at work, this time she just managed to be at the Planet doing it. Reading the text she got, she promptly grabbed her purse, abandoned her desk and stomped off towards the diner, preparing her 'angry' speech. Or at least, that part would be true if she were actually angry, which she's not. Concerned is more the word at this point.

Opening the door (she's there surprisingly quickly), she heads inside and beelines for Terry once she sees him. "... why, exactly, are you getting shot?" It's not a scolding tone, more more of an intense interest.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
<<I'm at Alice's Diner. Yes. I know.>> Terry texts back, and includes the GPS marker in case Gar is one of those birds with poor navigation skills. He closes his eyes for a bit, and when he opens them lo and behold, there is Lois Lane, appearing before him like Beatrix to Dante, and he has to wonder briefly whether he has died and she is here to scold him into a purgatory for careless youths- but no, she is very real, and she looks concerned.

"Miss Lane! Sorry about that-" he says sheepishly. "I sort of overheard something about something big potentially happening and...."

It is perfectly fine to imagine his dialogue being printed in an ever-diminishing font size. It is exactly what his voice is doing. "And I thought... that sounds like a potentially good scoop, right?"

He offers her the same kind of smile he would offer his mother every time she found the jar empty, and chocolate chips all over his shirt.

It worked just as well then as it does now. Which is not at all.

Gar Logan has posed:
<<Know what?>> Gar replies in the midst of changing, only to add, <<Nevermind, I'll be there in about two minutes.>>

Only off by about thirty seconds, he walks into the diner just as Lois and Terry are beginning their conversation. "Oh, hey, it's Lois Lane! What's up?"

He notes Terry's condition, a slight grimace passing over his expression. "You look a little out of it, but it could have been a lot worse." Starting to root around in one of his pockets, the fingers go as far as they can. "Sorry about the keys. I guess I had a little raccoon or ferret left over in me at the time. Don't ask. Anyway, I..." Check the other pocket, frown, literal facepalm.

"I'll be right back." He darts out again, disappearing quickly.

Lois Lane has posed:
But the other shoe doesn't drop. Lois doesn't scold him, exactly, not as he might expect. "Good instincts, kid. You probably did exactly what I would have done." She's not lying, either. Getting shot pursuing a story? That had Lois Lane written all over it. "However..." She eyes him. "You have to be a little more careful doing it. Stay aware, stay sharp, know your allies. Know your skills, too. You can talk your way out of something? Do it. Lie your head off if you have to."

She glances over as Gar shows up, about to say something, then she watches him leave. Yep, sounds about right. She looks back to Terry. "But don't get yourself shot. Hurts, doesn't it?" She's been shot before and shot /at/ plenty of times.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Like a mof-" Pause, "Like a b-" pause. "It hurts a very great deal, yes," Terry finally says, wincing a bit. He was not THAT much out of it to swear like a sailor in front of his boss. "You're right, I sort of didn't quite prepare as I should've. I only had twenty minutes from when I heard the tip and I rushed it. My mother would say I have brought Great Shame upon the family."

He pales. Considering he is a redhead, this means that he is close to becoming transluscent. "Now I have to figure out what to tell her. The son of a private investigator getting shot in a stake-out like a rookie.... oh man I can hear her now..."

He sighs, and then smiles a little at Gar's in-and-out. "That's Gar Logan. Beast Boy of the Titans? He saved my life. I met him the day before too, coincidentally. He's kind of endearing..."

A glance up at Lois, "Next time I'll make sure not to get shot... have you, you know. Gotten shot a lot?"

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan zooms back to the Tower, Peregrine falcon time, then zooms back to the diner. It's not much more than another couple minutes, and he flies in as the door is about to close from someone else leaving upon finishing breakfast, landing atop Terry's table with the keys in his beak, dropped from there.

"Note to self: when you accidentally go home with someone's car keys and need to bring them back over, make sure you don't leave them at home," he says, melting back into his usual form, which leaves him seated across from Terry. "So, you look a little pale. Just how much blood did you lose?" He flashes Lois a winning smile. "I hear he's interning for you. I figured you covered the 'don't get shot' thing!"

Lois Lane has posed:
That's cute. He's trying to censor himself. Professionalism! Lois Lane appreciates the gesture, but she clearly doesn't seem to care if he's swearing either way. "You're young. You'll have plenty of time to make sure when you're shot it's worth it. But the trick is, you know when a lead is solid and you should follow up on it. If you get shot and you survive /and/ you get the story? That makes you a hero."

As Beast Boy returns, she offers a finger wiggle of greeting. "Pleasure to meet you. And yes, he's interning so long as he's not, you know, dead." She folds her arms over her chest, but she really doesn't look mad. "I've gotten shot before. But the amount of times I've gotten shot at is probably a lot higher than I care to admit. The trick is... you need to determine if a risk can be a calculated risk. If you know the odds are in your favor, it's way easier to jump in and get the story."

She flashes him a grin. "Sometimes you have to try dumb things. I'm not saying you should, but if you know there's a way to do it without losing your head, you take the calculated risk of trying. I hate to give you bad advice, but if someone's going to try being the same kind of reporter that I've been, I should at least give honest advice." She flashes a glance back and forth between Gar and Terry.

"You've already learned the trick to being a good reporter: find yourself someone to get you out of scrapes, however that may be. Whatever resource you can call on."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry grabs the keys and slips them into his pocket, and laughs, "Well, yeah, he certainly came in swooping like a knight in-" he pauses and looks at Gar. "Like the Green Knight.. Wait. In that story doesn't the Green Knight get his head chopped off? Nevermind. But Miss Lane has a point, Gar. If you'll accompany me on risky scoops, I'll treat you to all the breakfast burritos you can stomach."

Considering that the person in question could turn into a goat, that's a cast-iron stomach there.

"Speaking of stories, was the thing I sent you last night any use? Gar knows about it. I figured that if someone could, you know, help the person in question, he might know." He's obviously not discussing specific details in case the walls have ears.

Granted, given the dosage they suggest he take for pain, it wouldn't surprise him at all if the walls suddenly did sprout ears. "I should be back to work in a day or two. I miiight have to handle the smaller cameras if you need pictures on the field, though."

Gar Logan has posed:
"He's lucky I was in the area. It looks like a gang deal was going to go down and he kind of stood out the way I do in a crowd," Gar explains, gesturing toward Terry with a palm up. "And I'm gonna have to disagree with Miss Lane here. It's /never/ worth getting shot. Getting shot /hurts/ like a mot-..I mean it hurts like a bi-..let's just say it hurts a lot."

He was /not/ there to hear Terry going through the same thing just a few moments earlier.

Clearing his throat, he shifts in place to get more comfortable. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you. The Titans..yeah. We're sort of not really a thing right now, but I'm trying to work on that." Lois, as much as anyone, would probably remember all too clearly how badly the Titans were decimated by Doomsday when they tried to stop the monster. It's directly why they disbanded and went their own ways.

"I just want to make sure that whatever's going on with this..visitor..someone's aware of it and ready to try to help." He, however, looks dubious about some of what they're laying down. "Wait. You're asking me to be the Superman to Terry's Lois?"

Only after he's said it does he catch himself, rubbing the back of his head. "Um, sorry. Bad comparison."

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois looks between the two. "Well, the trick is, you've really got two stories in one. You have the story about a dead superhero being alive and going under a different name, and you've got the, uh, captive." She frowns. "The first one is tricky because you can't just throw up a story about them without confirming it, and confirming is hard unless you can, you know, talk to the person in question or gather more intel. So unless you plan on interviewing her, it's hard to have a solid piece." There's a long pause. Something she's not saying.

But she's at least distracted by Gar for a second. "I'm not suggesting you be Superman, those are lofty shoes to fill. But what I'm saying is that every reporter's got people they go to for assistance, and someone with some powers who might be able to help in a pinch is really helpful... especially if they show up a lot. This isn't a job that's really done well alone."

That being said. "If you're interested in the other story, it's gonna be tricky. A paper like the Daily Planet won't just publish something without a solid story. Picture it like a court of law, you need enough evidence to prove your case. You've got some video evidence, sure, that lends a lot to the cause." She frowns. "But SHIELD is kind of a hard nut to crack. I doubt they're going to just let you in to talk about it, but you could always try that. You could also try and see if you can find information on what that protocol number means, see if your captive is being held for a particular reason or if they're safe."

She abruptly leans in closer to the pair. "I'm saying this in all seriousness. This isn't one of those 'oh she said it but she was really trying to hint we should do it anyway' instances. I'm giving you a warning. Do /not/ go to them and try to blackmail your way in. Don't tell them you have video evidence. Even if you do get in to see this captive, you don't know that they'll let /you/ out and you don't know that they won't find a way to destroy your footage either way."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry gives Gar a side-eye when he makes the Superman comparison. Just as he is about to slide the sallt over to the Green teen to suggest it might taste better with the foot he's about to wash down, Lois imparts some very serious wisdom.

"Wow... not letting me out." He pauses. "Could they do that?" Another pause. "Of course they could. And nobody would know about it." He ponders this for a few seconds.

"I'm definitely out of my depth here. A story of this seriousness... that requires some major pull to even get close to SHIELD, you're right." He doesn't even have contacts in the local deli yet, the SHIELD angle is out of his density.

So is Miss Marvel, now Captain, to be frank. "Maybe there's an off chance I /could/ interview her. But that's a one-in-a-million..." he pauses, and strokes his chin. "You know... my cousin was able to interview Harley Quinn the other day for her podcast. Maybe she has some conenctions that could help me get close to someone who might know Captain Marvel..."

Gar Logan has posed:
Gar Logan does not do the foot-in-mouth thing, but he does grow abnormally silent for the duration of the advice and warnings given by Lois, along with Terry's musing over what it could mean. When he speaks again, it's to say, "They're SHIELD, dude. They do what they want. They could be listening in on everyone in this place right now if they felt like it."

He goes on to add, "I sent a message to anyone who's been a Titan about the video, and I wasn't suggesting we try to break in anywhere. That'd be really, really dumb. I thought maybe we could tell them we know they've got someone and try to talk, but..." He indicates Lois here, with that same hand. "I'm not used to doing things thoughtfully all that much. I'm not a reporter. I'm just an actor and kindasorta good guy hero when I can."

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois shrugs. "I can't say there's a great route in with SHIELD. I don't have any easy connections to work there, so if you're really invested in seeing this one through it's gonna take some creativity. /Careful/ creativity." She looks between the two of them again as she gives her advice. There is an amused look as Terry mentions his cousin. "Your cousin is the one with that podcast? I think I've heard it before. I like her attitude. If she might be able to get you in somewhere, it might be a good route."

She grins in Gar's direction. "Careful, whenever you say you're 'just' something, it means you're always more. You're never 'just' what you say you are. You try and help, that's the important bit. Whatever the case may be, you need more information before you can go in."

There's a shrug of her shoulders. "I'd offer to go in myself but... working on a /big/ story."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Bigger than captured alien and resurrected superheroines? Terry is intrigued, but even though he's only worked for a few day for Lois, he knows bettter than to even ask. Lois reminds him of his mother, and his mother she always holds her cards close to her chest until it's time to take you down. Not someone you want to play poker with.

Terry also has more than enough common sense to not tell Lois she reminds him of his mom.

"Oh yeah, creative. I can do creative...." pauses. "I might be able to do careful, too."

He smiles at the advice Lois gives Gar, and he cocks an eyebrow at the green guy, "What she said. I don't think you're a 'just' anything, dude."

He leans back and winces, noticing the ache is getting stronger. "Ugh. I think I might need to get my order to go. The meds are wearing off and I'm not allowed to drive on a new dose. I guess I should drive home before they wear off too much and I drive myself screaming all the way home."

He pausess, and chuckles at the mental image he suddenly has of himself grasping the steering wheel, his mouth wide open in a scream that makes him resemble Fizzgig from the Dark Crystal as he drives down the highway. It strikes him as really funny, and he cackles.

And then he blinks. ".... actually.... I think I'm still kind of out it."
5r

Gar Logan has posed:
"Thanks, guys," Gar answers, a fleeting smile crossing his expression. "I'm kind of not sure if I'm actually ready to be a full-time hero again. There's a part of me that misses it, but I'm also afraid of..of things." He leaves out specifics, but Terry already knows a lot about his life story. Lois, as a reporter, may know more than the average Joe as well.

Fidgeting in place, he says, "Maybe we'll all get lucky and they'll just let the guy go? Maybe they just want to make sure he's safe and not carrying some population-wiping virus nobody has a cure for." Gar's optimism, making an appearance.

That's when he squints sharply at Terry. "You're not in any shape to drive. I'll take you back to your place, and this time I'll remember to give you the keys before I leave."

Lois Lane has posed:
"Just be careful, kid," Lois says, giving Terry a smile. "If you're anything like me, you won't leave well enough alone so I won't tell you to. All I ask is that you're careful." She pauses. "If you're gonna do something you think is probably stupid, make sure someone knows where you're going in case you just suddenly don't show up when you're supposed to. Also... please get some rest. That's gonna hurt a while and it sounds like this story's not gonna go anywhere."

She turns her attention to Gar. "You don't have to be a 'full-time hero' to do some good. You're already helping a friend." She gestures between the two of them. "Go on, go get some rest."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Aye Aye, captain!" Terry says with a grin, "Rest assured, I will assuredly rest." He blinks a couple of times-

And in between one of those blink, his eyes look /odd/, but they're perfectly normal, the rest of the time. He looks at Gar and hehs, "Okay, you drive me home, but you don't leave yet. Let me order a pizza to thank you for the trouble." Pause. "And for saving my life. Might need two pizzas."

Fortunately his sandwich arrives at that point, and it's easy to wrap up to take him. When he stands up, he sways a little, but he's not going to fall over. "I promise I'll let you all know if I try anything stupid. I'm gonna be thinking about about how to get this story to work, might even call April and see if she's got some pull... but yeah. I will be careful. Otherwise who'd get your coffee just right?"

Well. Clark, for one. But it's best not to mention that. "Thank you, Miss Lane. Means a lot." He then smiles at his green chauffeur and hands him the keys, "Let's go paint the town red. And as to your question when you came in, Gar, I didn't /lose/ any blood. The doctors found all of it, put it in little bags and then put it back in me." He starts walking towards the door.

Gar Logan has posed:
"Dude, it's like..7:30 in the morning. I don't think any pizza places are open yet," Gar explains. That would mean either needing to come back later for the pizzas to be ordered, or sticking around, or.. "Breakfast burritos now, pizza later. How about that?"

If he spotted one of those blinks, and he might not have, it isn't showing.

"Thanks, Miss Lane, again," he tells Lois after her added words of encouragment, and he gets up to make sure Terry won't be falling over just trying to get up and go back to the hospital's parking lot for the car. It wouldn't do to need to re-admit him. He does blanch, if only a little and to the extent one with green skin can, at the description of what was done with the blood. "That's..good. Very good." He sends Lois a wave as they clear out.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois moves towards the door herself, giving them room to head on out before she begins to head back to the Planet. "Just remember... have a solid plan!" She calls before she's already on her way back. She's got things to write.